Did You Ride Today?

Well?

Yes I did! 28 miles. Very nice ride for the first 45min as I had this awesome tailwind! I was cranking! But, of course, everyone knows that for each tailwind, there is the wicked brother called headwind! Ugh. Last half of ride was into the wind.

I did a short recovery climb on the closed Blue Ridge Parkway. Just enough effort to recover from yesterday's intervals and to prepare for tomorrows climbing repeats. Of course it was awesome having the road to myself.

sweet! yea, i do like dst for making it easier to ride after work, but i don't like getting up and having to drive to work in the dark.

unfortunately, i don't get to ride today. i have to go get some things for my son...today's his birthday (17yr) and after work, is a PT session, then birthday stuff. oh well, maybe tomorrow and then this weekend.

...Our oldest daughter entered pre-K in September. Since then she's been bringing home a steady stream of colds. And being such a great kid, naturally she has to share them with everyone else. It's riding season, when will this cold & flu season end?

On Tuesday I got a flat tire, the first one I've had out on the road in more than a year.

The trauma of that experience was so bad that I didn't ride yesterday.

If I figure out how to change said tire, I should be back out this evening.

The flu? Boo.

Why is the BRP closed?

The BRP is closed because I like it that way! Actually, we had several snows up at the higher elevations the past few weeks and since the road does not get cleared it remains closed until it clears on it's own. Also there may be some rock fall from the freeze/thaw cycle that needs to be removed from the road. Other than that, there is some tree debris on the road one needs to watch out for. You don't want to flat at speed coming down the hill.

....went to PT this afternoon (where he did a number on my calf), home to do the birthday thing with the kid...he leaves to go play with the new poker set with the friends down the street...i surely do not want to sit in the house and not ride while it's still 70-something outside!

so, yes, i rode today - a very short ride, but i didn't start till almost 6:30pm...bike feels great! lowered the saddle a tad more this evening. only 10mi, but it's better than the alternative

I rode during lunch today. I've discovered that from the parking lot at work, around the local fairgrounds twice and back again nets 5.1 miles... I've done that every day this week, except today a coworker went with me and we just went around the midway and parking lot area, as it's been about 20 years since he had been on a bike. Probably doesn't sound like much, but it's been about 9 years since I've been out on 2 wheels myself.

This week only 5x5 minutes @ a steady 310w. They were done on a computrainer at our local sports institute.

The guy who's in charge of the cycling performance program there sets me up with different pain each week, so it's like life or Gumps Chocolates in that I'll never know what I'm going to get until I hop on the bike and start pedaling.

The week before that nearly broke me and had me sniveling like the namby-pants I am (3x10 minute ascending ladders, 2 minutes per wattage, 280w, 290w, 300w, 310w, 320w -- the last 3 minutes of the last interval were excruciating).

Me a two other cow-orkers headed out for a lunchtime ride yesterday (Thursday) to a nearby National Historical site in Ninety Six, SC - Star Fort. Just about 18 miles round trip (with a small diversion down some side loops). Minimal winds and about 75 degrees F at return. Awesome.

I went out on Wednesday. Rode about 35 miles & had about 3600 ft of climbing. I did have some fun decents exceeding 40 mph (my goal) several times. Did make the mistake of trying to stretch the ride past the limits of daylight. We climbed to a high hill to watch the sunset. We all had lights but the battery in my headlight was dead, so I got to replace that before making that mistake again. I don't trust cars as it is, but especially if they can't see me coming.

Yep. Another ride today. cnickgo was in town (spring break at ASU) and I invited him over to ride the flat roads around Clayton.

Brief ride report:
When I got to the start, there were some people already there...locally known as 'The Hammers'. They have this name for a reason...they drope the hamer big time! Anyways, I had a 52mi route planned for us to ride, but we both decided to ride with these guys for a while. They were going to do either 40 or 65mi. We opted to try and hang with the 65mi group.

Pace was fast from the get-go...22-23mph avg. Holy Cow! We lasted for 11 miles. After our turn at pulling, cnickgo dropped off and I stayed back with him, letting the group go. We rode on another 4-5mi to the first place for a stop. cnickgo didn't look too good. He was having a bit of trouble with the legs. Brief stop and we head on out...end up in Princeton and I am now beyond my knowledge of the roads/routes. So, we sorta get lost, but not really. I know the general direction to take to get us back and eventually would come upon a road/area that I was familiar with.

By now, every now and then when we hit a slight grade, I hear the groans start and cnickgo falls off my wheel. I keep asking him if he's ok. 'Yea, but my legs are about done'. 'Want me to call SAG? Nah, not yet'. But, after a couple of stops for some stretching and more groaning, I ask again if he wants to call SAG. He gives in...

We have to make it to somewhere that I can make sure SAG can find, so we continue to ride, very easily, until we get to Pine Level. Too bad his legs were shot...I know where I'm at now and could get us back to the car, but it is just too far for cnickgo to ride. His legs are shot and the last thing I want to do is get him hurt. Been there done that. We wait here for SAG, which eventually arrives, we load up and get a lift back to our cars.

The Hammers have arrived back when we get there and we talk a bit to them then say our good-byes. I wanted to get in another hour or so of riding, so I headed out to do a short 20-25mi ride. But, it started raining on me and I was cold, so I turned around after about 3mi.

One suggestion. When you ride with a group that will obviously be faster than what you normally ride, just sit in. There is no need to pull through only to blowup shortly after. Just let the faster riders know that's what you're doing so there is no confusion.

There are two ways to do that. One is to stay at the rear and the other is to rotate through but just pull off when you get to the front. I would prefer the rider to rotate through if he/she was comfortable with the paceline.